Latest posts from National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI)

In conjunction with imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival and Urban Shaman Contemporary Aboriginal Art Gallery, Cinematheque presents The Embargo Collective II this Thursday – an anthology of five short films by Canadian Indigenous women.

Included in the program is Skyworld from Zoe Leigh Hopkins (Featuring Aboriginal Stories Program) and Intemperance (pictured) from Lisa Jackson (NSI Storytellers, Featuring Aboriginal Stories Program).

The event takes place at Winnipeg Film Group’s Cinematheque this Thursday, February 23 at 7 p.m.

Beat, a new play from Dale Sheldrake (NSI Totally Television) is featured at this year’s New Ideas Festival in Toronto in March.

In Beat, a woman confronts her demons and herself after a near-fatal crash. Heartbeats and self-reflection weave her senses into a desire to find her true voice.

New Ideas Festival is an annual juried festival of new writing, works-in-progress and experimental theatre with a different program of plays each week and staged readings on Saturdays at noon.

Find out more and get tickets.

Three new films in this week’s NSI Online Short Film Festival from directors Matt Wright, Ian Macdonald and Lynn Matheson.

Wife and Death

Wife and Death | Comedy, 8:00, English, NL, 2016 | Director: Matt Wright

In this comedic look at the afterlife, Jack is visited by Death and must overcome hilarious obstacles to patch things up with his girlfriend before it’s too late.

Playdate

Playdate | Drama, 12:31, English, BC, 2015 | Director: Ian Macdonald

Regretful of their estrangement since high school, Fran arranges to meet Bart at their childhood playground.

Having not seen him since high school, Fran has each of them wear their outfit from prom. The only problem is Bart is now taller, pudgier and older.

When We Were Poor

When We Were Poor | Documentary, 1:16, English, NS, 2016 | Director: Lynn Matheson

After inheriting all of her aunt’s personal papers, a woman unpacks them five years after her death.

Her aunt, who was a child of the 1960s and later an environmental activist, has left items which range from the minutiae of daily life to journals.

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Call for films / submit by March 24

Films are now being accepted through FilmFreeway until Friday, March 24, 2017.

If your film is programmed, you have a chance of winning up to $4,750 in cash awards. We accept films released after January 1, 2012.

Your film must be less than 30 mins long. Drama, comedy, animation, documentary, sci-fi, horror, music video and experimental are all eligible and must be made by a Canadian writer, director or producer.

Submit your film

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The NSI Online Short Film Festival is made possible through the support of Festival Partner Telefilm Canada; Supporting Sponsors Entertainment One, Super Channel, Corus Entertainment, Blue Ant Media, The Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation and Breakthrough Entertainment; Award Sponsors A&E Television Networks, The Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation; Corus Entertainment and Blue Ant Media; and Industry Partner the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.

After inheriting all of her aunt’s personal papers, a woman unpacks them five years after her death.

Her aunt, who was a child of the 1960s and later an environmental activist, has left items which range from the minutiae of daily life to journals.

Creative team

Writer/director/producer: Lynn Matheson

Filmmaker’s statement

Five years after my aunt Judy’s death, I wanted to make a tribute to her and try to express some of what she meant to me.

Unpacking her belongings both moved me to tears, made me laugh out loud and wonder, “Why did she keep that?”

I wanted the piece to be in keeping with how she lived her life – Judy was rough around the edges, she wore rubber boots, she built her own log cabin. I wanted the film to be organic and real.

About Lynn Matheson

Lynn is a committed – some might say obsessive – lifelong learner with a public relations degree, MBA and certificate in international Chinese studies.

While studying, she worked in public relations and government administration developing the ability to juggle multiple tasks which she hopes prepares her to transition into the film industry.

She has taken courses at AFCOOP and Centre for Art Tapes, notably the FILM5 program and Media Arts Scholarship. She has produced, crewed and created a number of shorts, and recently produced a WIFT-At 1K Wave Atlantic feature.